Overwintering veg is a bang-up mode to get more crop .
One of the things I ’m strain to master on my horticulture journey is winter large amount of vegetable to get lots of former natural spring harvest .
The first yr I winter vegetables it was altogether unintentional . But it was so astonishing to have spinach growing in our garden before I ’d even directly seed the spring crop ! I was hooked on overwintering . Since then I ’ve done a decent amount of experimenting with overwintering , both on intent and inadvertent in our geographical zone 5 arena .
Another great way to enjoy early spring harvests is to usehoop tunnelsorstart seeds indoorsto spring up seedlings . We often use ourindoor grow lights & nursery set up for an early spring start . This all requires more work than overwintering though !
The mind with overwintering is time your vegetables to be the right size of it before winter set in so they can be dormant for the winter & start producing outgrowth and harvests in the saltation .
Tips for Overwintering Vegetables
In ecumenical the low to the land the veg are , the just chance of overwintering because the C. P. Snow provides protection or the plant are less exposed to inhuman wintertime winds . How cold your winter gets is also a factor ; some wintertime it only dips down to -10C/14F , other years it ’s -20C/-4F for our geographical zone 5 . Varieties make a big difference when it derive to overwintering . Not every carrot , lettuce , or cabbage can be winter , certain varieties are cover for better cold hardiness .
There are a duet of ways to overwinter your veg :
Perennial plants that rest in the ground year after year to glean in the saltation ( asparagus , sprouting broccoli ) are also plant that technically overwinter but I ’m only include the annuals & biennial in this listing .
After a few years of experimenting here ’s my recommend list of vegetables for overwintering in zone 5 .
Best Vegetables for Overwintering
Mache
What a beautiful rose window of viridity in the middle of winter ! We ’ve experience early snowmelt in February and this pretty plant was a welcome tasty , loopy and smooth green for salads or sauteed . If you were to plant a whole bed of this crop , it holds out better in the wintertime than spinach and starts to regrow at only 2C/35.6F. I ’ve also been told it self - sow very well , so if you have an area of the garden you’re able to pay to this harvest it will take charge of sowing for you ! We left this crop unprotected with only snow cover . Once the Baron Snow of Leicester melted in the spring I made a low tunnel over the plants . I extremely urge mache as an easy one for first time overwinter gardener ! It develop incredibly fast in the fall too and can be sown later than most overwintering vegetables .
Parsnips
If I had to choose one vegetable to overwinter it would be parsnips . leave behind without protection , this amazing nutty and sweet root veggie taste amazing in the springtime . Parsnips can be an acquire taste but they taste intimately after many frosts have made them sweeter . They take a long clock time to grow compared to the overwintering green , at least 100 days to adulthood before you could leave them in the undercoat to winter , but they ’re worth it . If you mulched them with leave-taking and protect them with a tarpaulin or rowing cover you could glean them all winter long so long as the flat coat is n’t frozen . We left them in the ground with no protection and dug them out as before long as the terra firma melt . Our ground sometimes unfreeze out in the wintertime and then freezes again which means we can often harvest parsnip during those wintertime months .
Spinach
This crop is one of the hardiest and will sprout lots of leaves once the weather warms up in the spring . It will go to seed once the weather gets hot , but the leafy vegetable will be ready weeks sooner than your direct sown spinach . I ordinarily leave spinach in the garden with no trade protection . If you have a winter low tunnel or cold frame you’re able to harvest this good for you unripe crop all wintertime into the former springtime months . Or you could alsogrow spinach indoors .
Arugula
Arugula is another tight farm leafy honey oil that loves the cool weather , and outrank with spinach plant and mache for overwintering potential difference . develop passel of it in the fall and you ’ll have tasty arugula that is n’t as spicy as the ones turn during warmer springs . Ours has self - sowed before and sprouted at 2C/35.6F although it did n’t continue to grow until a calendar month later once it became warmer .
Kale
I ’ve overwinter kale in two way : with the larger plants sprouting leaves from a main stem ( picture above ) , and the low to the ground infant greens sow in the crepuscule ( pictured below ) . The taller plants wo n’t always overwinter as well being more exposed to the harsh elements of winter . In general snow protective covering helps and the more low to the reason the kale is , the better trade protection it has . Most of our to the full - grow kale does n’t end up sprouting in the spring because they ’re invoke to deer and incline to be damaged for spring special K .
Honorable Mentions for Overwintering
Winter Density lettuce(pictured above ) overwinters great . As you may see is much larger the the lineal sown wintertime density lettuce for comparison . I left it without protection however I it does n’t overwinter every season , it ’s been weather and snow pending for us .
Carrotscan be glean during the wintertime month and early spring but multifariousness pretend a braggart deviation . Napoli & Autumn Billie Jean King are a couple of bang-up varieties that can handle colder temperatures . They taste wonderful and sweeter after frosts like many root vegetables . In general they ’re better harvested right as the ground melt , hold off too long will reduce caliber . If you have a depleted burrow over them you’re able to reap all wintertime .
Leeks & Green Onionsare crop that can be grown and harvest in late fall and wintertime , if you leave some in the ground you ’ll see them a nice surprise in early spring .
Giant red mustard(pictured below ) has a strong spicy appreciation that not everyone enjoys but it ’s far milder when cooked . Our overwinter gargantuan blood-red leaf mustard produced many large foliage before bolting . It in reality live on longer than our spinach did before efflorescence . Mizunagrew some leaves but flowered faster than the other mustard greens .
More Veggies to Overwinter
Conclusion
overwinter veggies is a fantastic way of life to gain more yields from your garden ! You ’ll also be feed brisk nutrient weeks earlier than direct sowing your spring crops .
Have you tried overwintering before ? What was your experience and preferent crop ?
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